So much grief has arisen from the awful state of the documentation and software, that an entire Chinese laser support forum has arisen for the hapless owners of these machines help each other.

How to Use the Laser Cutter

To use the laser cutter:

Design your parts. You will need access to vector graphics software to do this.

Find an operator. To lower the risk of damaging the laser cutter, you must work with an operator to cut your parts. You can get in touch with the operators by sending an email to the laser cutter operator mailing list (i3detroit-laser@googlegroups.com).

Schedule a time to meet at i3 with your operator.

Cut your parts.

Pay for your time on the cutter ($10 / hour of active cutting time).

Operator Name

Trained By

AB Garcia

Owns the laser

Nate Bezanson

AB

Dustin White

AB

Brian Wennberg

AB

Matt Arnold

NateB and Dustin

Dave Worsey (pending)

NateB and ???

Rocco ?

Fill me in!

Cutting Materials: Safe vs. Dangerous

The laser cutter can cut or etch a wide variety of materials. However some are not possible to cut with our current set-up, and other materials are dangerous - they release fumes that damage humans or the laser cutter itself.

The laser can only etch some materials; it will not be able to cut through them. See the materials list for more.

You are responsible for knowing exactly what your material is before you try to cut it.

Do not cut any materials marked as BANNED in the list below. You would be liable for expensive damage to the machine or worse - you may release toxic fumes that could easily harm or kill!

Materials List

Material

Cut?

Etch?

Power

Speed

Acrylic

Yes

Yes

Glass

No

Yes

Coated Metals

No

Yes

Ceramic

No

Yes

Cloth

Yes

Yes

Delrin

Yes

Yes

Leather

Yes

Yes

BANNED - Lexan

No

No

BANNED - Human flesh (yes, this has come up)

No

No

Marble

No

Yes

Matte Board

Yes

Yes

Melamine

Yes

Yes

Model Foam

Yes

Yes

Paper

Yes

Yes

Plexiglass

Yes

Yes

Mylar

Yes

Yes

Painted Metals

No

Yes

BANNED - Particle board

No

No

BANNED - Plywood

No

No

BANNED - Polycarbonate plastics of any kind

No

No

BANNED - PVC of any kind

No

No

Rubber

Yes

Yes

Tile

No

Yes

Wood, veneer

Yes

Yes

Wood, natural

Yes

Yes

Cutting Parts on the Laser Cutter

When cutting parts on the laser, you will use the software to set the cutting speed and power. If we have cut the material you are using before, you can refer to the power and speed recommendations in the table above. Otherwise - experiment! Bring some scrap material to do test cuts on until you find a cut you are satisfied with. After that, record your power and speed settings in the table above.

In general:

Lower speeds allow for lower cutting power, which saves life on the laser tube.

Lower speeds cut a wider "kerf" (thickness of cut) through the material.

At higher speeds the cut is faster but requires higher power, which uses up the laser tube faster.

High power on wood and paper may cause some discoloration near the cuts (browning color from burned material).

FAQ

How much does it cost to use the laser cutter?$10 per hour of laser cutting time. This does not mean $10 per hour of standing near the machine; rather, $10 per hour of time displayed on the laser cutter's digital read-out. This timer is only active while the laser is cutting and its motors are moving. For many cuts, the laser is only active for a few minutes, meaning to laser-cut a project part you will often pay less than a dollar.

Why do I have to pay to use the laser cutter?

The laser cutter's consumable parts are generally not expensive, such as the lens and distilled water. The CO2 laser tubes, however, are $900 to $1,000 each. The laser cutter has a built-in timer to track how long the cutter has been in operation. This makes it simple for us to collect a fair amount of money - you pay for what you use - to eventually replace these expensive consumables. In other shops, laser cutter usage time could be five or ten times more expensive.

Why do I have to work with an operator to cut parts?

The operator has received training with using the chiller, the exhaust system, and what to do in case of an emergency. The purpose of the laser cutter operator is to prevent damage to the machine and to prevent you from being liable in case anything happens. If you use the laser cutter without an operator, you lose all protection from liability and could be on the hook for thousands of dollars to replace what you break.